Not One, Not Two, But Three Planetary Systems Are Forming Around This Binary Star

Astronomers have spied three whole systems of exoplanets being born around one binary star. SVS 13 is a binary star system 980 light-years away, and the complex structures of dust around it are shedding light on how planetary systems are born in these fascinating environments. Since a large proportion of stars is bound up in … Read more

Are there any moons that are made of gas?

The planets in our solar system come in two forms: Some are rocky, and some are gaseous. But all of the moons in our solar system are rocky, even the ones that orbit gas giants. So why aren’t some moons in the solar system made of gas? And are there gaseous moons anywhere in the … Read more

NASA Is Cracking Open a 50-Year-Old Vacuum-Sealed Tube of Lunar Gas And Soil

The Apollo missions to the Moon brought a total of 2,196 rock samples to Earth. But NASA has only just started opening one of the last ones, collected 50 years ago. For all that time, some tubes were kept sealed so that they could be studied years later, with the help of the latest technical … Read more

Lead Exposure May Have Lowered The IQ of Half of Americans Since 1940

Childhood lead exposure in the United States is ubiquitous and much more concerning than previous estimates have suggested, according to a new study. When researchers analyzed leaded gas use from 1940 and combined it with data on blood-lead levels from the mid 1970s, they found more than 54 percent of Americans alive in 2015 had … Read more

Russian gas: EU will cut Russian gas imports by two thirds in 2022

The EU launched a new energy strategy to reduce the use of Russian gas imports just as the UK announced it would phase out such imports, and the US imposed a ban as well Environment 8 March 2022 By Adam Vaughan Pipes at a gas treatment facility in Russia Andrey Rudakov/Bloomberg via Getty Images The … Read more

Net zero: The UK is building its last big gas power plant

By Adam Vaughan The Keadby 2 gas power station in Lincolnshire, UK david soulsby/Alamy Climb the stairs to the roof of the cooling tower at Keadby 2, a new gas power plant in the east of England, and you are rewarded with a story of the UK’s energy past, present and possible future. Straight ahead … Read more

Giant Bubbles Expanding From The Milky Way Could Be Explained by a Single Event

Two sets of giant bubbles that extend thousands of light-years above and below the plane of the Milky Way could have been produced by the same event, in spite of their significant difference in size.   They’re called the Fermi bubbles and the eROSITA bubbles, and astronomers believe they were the result of activity by … Read more

Why Isn’t Jupiter a Star?

The smallest known main-sequence star in the Milky Way galaxy is a real pixie of a thing. It’s called EBLM J0555-57Ab, a red dwarf 600 light-years away. With a mean radius of around 59,000 kilometers, it’s just a smidge bigger than Saturn. That makes it the tiniest known star to support hydrogen fusion in its core, … Read more

Ukraine invasion: European Union plans new energy strategy

About 40 per cent of Europe’s gas comes from Russia, but the European Union is expected to release a new energy strategy to reduce its reliance on Russian imports Technology 28 February 2022 By Adam Vaughan The Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline EyePress News/Shutterstock The European Union is expected to unveil a new energy strategy … Read more

Climate change: UK advisers urge tighter curbs on new oil and gas projects

It is naive and wrong to think increasing domestic oil and gas production is the answer to the UK energy crisis, says Chris Stark of the Climate Change Committee Environment 24 February 2022 By Adam Vaughan Oil rigs at Cromarty Firth in Invergordon, UK James Jones Jr/Shutterstock Ending new UK oil and gas production is … Read more